Carmack Amendment (US domestic)
Carmack Amendment, 49 U.S.C. § 14706 (motor) and § 11706 (rail)
When it applies
Interstate carriage within the United States by motor carrier or rail. It is the domestic leg regime that sits behind an international movement once the goods are on a US truck under a domestic bill of lading.
Limit
49 U.S.C. § 14706(c)Full actual loss — there is no treaty cap. But the carrier may lawfully limit liability by a released-rates tariff agreed with the shipper, and in practice almost every motor carrier does, commonly to a low figure per pound.
Notice of loss
49 C.F.R. § 370Set by the bill of lading and the carrier's tariff; a minimum claim-filing period of nine months is the regulatory floor for motor carriers.
Time bar
49 U.S.C. § 14706(e)A minimum of two years from the carrier's written declination, again as a floor.
When the limit is lost
The released-rate limitation fails where the carrier did not give the shipper a fair opportunity to choose between levels of liability.
What the cap pays on a sample consignment
Applying the published limit to a sample consignment of 1,000 kg gross, 10 packages, invoice value US$120,000. The consignment is an illustration chosen so the arithmetic is checkable — it is not an average, a typical shipment or a measurement.
No conversion between SDR and any currency is shown. The International Monetary Fund revalues the SDR every business day, so a converted figure printed on a page is wrong by the time it is read.
What this means for cover
"Full actual loss" reads like complete protection and almost never is, because the released rate in the tariff is what governs. Read the tariff, not the statute.
Other road regimes
Sources
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